Elizabeth Banks is totally winning at life right now. Her directorial debut Pitch Perfect 2 was well received, she has starred in all four Hunger Games installments as the unforgettable Effie Trinket and has been a familiar face of quality comedy movies for years. Clearly keen to continue her career in directing, she is currently in talks with Universal about a new Young Adult fantasy book series The Red Queen (by Victoria Aveyard), the first of which was published in February this year.
Universal are not wasting any time on this one. Following the popularity of the Y.A genre, The Hunger Games and Divergence adaptions (not to mention the success of Twilight!), there is clearly a market for the dystopian future, segregated social groups saga, focused around a young yet courageous heroine. The Red Queen is exactly that. Elisabeth Banks is also hot property right now as a fresh face in directing and being no stranger to the young adult market, she does seem the obvious choice for this project.
Victoria Aveyard’s series involves a 17-year old girl named Mare Barrow, a society split by blood type (silver for elite with supernatural powers, red for second class, non gifted citizens) and a caste rebellion. The full synopsis can be found here. The script has been written by Gennifer Hutchison (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul). If Banks does continue her winning streak and land this film, I think it could do well. Watch this space…
#Peace.Love.TheRedQueen
